How dare you! Life in modern America

Frank the Tank has me all riled up and today it's for more reasons than the cheap shot he took at the Packers to lead off his blog (and at least we didn't lose to Arizona and San Francisco - also Packers.com leads you to the team's site. Bears.com leads you here).

No, it was selection five on his links page where he pointed out that NBC is taking heat for Conan O'Brien's opening skit to the Emmys which just happened to occur on the same day that there was a fatal plane crash in Kentucky.

Frank pointed out that at this rate, ABC would need to apologize for putting Lost on the air in the first place.

I don't think I'll be as polite.

I'm not going to go the "with all due respect" and then rip away route as much as I'd like to. I mean I'd really like to.

Instead, I'll just politely ask that people give serious thought to just how stupid this whole thing is. Without a hint of irony, I'd like to say first that I expect a little more from the Los Angeles Times but I do. Not once today did I hear anyone talk about how offended they were by the show and if the Midwest is down with the bit, isn't that a seal of approval under most circumstances?

Instead, they apparently led the charge to condemn the pre-recorded skit and according to the Washington Post:

The airing of the skit, a spoof on the ABC plane-crash drama "Lost," was condemned by the general manager of NBC's Lexington affiliate, WLEX.

"It was a live telecast. We were completely helpless," Tim Gilbert was quoted as saying Sunday night on the Lexington Herald-Leader's Web site. "By the time we began to react, it was over. At the station, we were as horrified as they were at home."

This whole thing baffles me and on a purely intellectual level, the telecast never showed the plane crashing.

On a "for the sake of arguement" level, who the hell is watching the Emmys the night they lose a loved one in a plane crash? How are they going to stay away from any movie, television show or mention of plane crashes in the future? Really, if they couldn't tear themselves away from the tube on that night, chances are they're going to come across another, far more graphic, depiction of a plane crash within the next two weeks, nevermind an Emmy telecast.

On a "you've got to be kidding me" level, exactly how many complaints did the network receive before the Times ran their piece? How many would they have received had that piece not been published?

This whole thing reminds me of the Janet Jackson nipple incident where a small but incredibly vocal minority screamed and hollered about how upset they were and the TiVo reported that the halftime show was played and replayed more than anything else they'd recorded.

Can you guess which side I came down on for that one?

(Image from NBC, via WashintonPost.com)